say you're wading a flat with bonefish gear and see a large 'cuda? What's a good way to get him on the end of a line? I'm finding they are hard to hook if they're just loafing around, although quite easy if they're already herding bonefish or otherwise enticed. I even tried switching to some longish bright flies and stripping fast, but nothing doing.

juro

05-22-2006, 03:30 PM

One trick is to put the hook thru the eye of a short steel leader with a cuda fly on it. The only reason I stopped doing this was I like barbless hooks for bonefish and the steel leader slips off.

I was intending to find some rubber grommet to put over or find a way to cinch the leader loop to the bend but since then have sort of lost interest in the cuda.

However your question has re-ignited my interest and I will pick up where I left off with the quick cuda rig.

Adrian

05-22-2006, 10:16 PM

The Lefty Kreh "annoy the hell out of em" approach can get results sometimes. Casting about ten feet ahead of the fish and ripping the fly off the surface with a strip-strike continuously will sometimes result in a blistering attack after the tenth (or twentieth) iteration.

Vince

05-23-2006, 09:59 AM

I keep some pre-rigged 'cuda flies in my fanny pack (tied on knottable stainless steel wire) and when I see a worthy 'cuda, just clip off the bonefish fly and tie on the cuda fly--with practice it should only take 15-25 seconds.
Sometimes they are easy, but most of the time they are tough on a fly rod--tough to get the fly moving fast enough for them--though the "annoy the hell out of them" technique does sometimes work.
One thing I have been thinking about is teasing them with a hookless lure on a spinning rod--get them close and worked up, and then throw the fly at them-though this would be easiest with two anglers, it could work with one.

arubaman

05-23-2006, 12:06 PM

Well Vince, that tosses up the discussion wether it is flyfishing to tease fish with other lures and then make a cast.

In Aruba and Bonaire the funniest thing I noticed was that smaller cuda, up to like 2 feet, seem to be attracted by the clouser minnow used for Bones. Many times my fly would be snatched of when stripping it in. i made some of those very long flies, but they didnīt work every time, the thing with Cuda is they are very oportunistic. They have to be teased (or irritated) to that bite. Maybe putting some wait on the fly could be of use too. This because when you stop youīre strip a weighted fly tends to drop down an this makes the impression of a wounded fish a little better.

For Juroīs problem: Consider a steelwire with a small hooksnap/croslok on the reel end side. This can easily be clicked/snapped in the eye of the hook you were using for bones. Then just hope it bites the right fly...

Myself I spent a lot of flies, because most of the times if it is baby Cudaīs I still cast towards them. Itīs incredible to see how hard they strike and the hit on your rod is a good strike. nost of the times thatīs where the game ends too. The fly is cut of and you can put a new piece fluorocarbon on the end of your leader. it also costs you about a fly a time, even if they donīt cut it off and you manage to land a cuda, the fly will be destroyed!

In my experience the small cudas in the Bahamas hit flies regularly, and usually are not much of a problem to get to take a fly--they usually hit most bonefish flies, even crab patterns. It's the bigger ones who are not so easily fooled.
I've never tried it yet, but I would say that it is fly fishing even if you tease them a bit. Still have to cast, strip, set the hook and land the fish, even if it is cheating a little!